SGEM Xtra: Judith Tintinalli – Legend of Emergency Medicine

Guest Skeptic: Dr. Judith Tintinalli is an emergency physician in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which is affiliated with University of North Carolina. She received her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine and wrote the book on emergency medicine (Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine).

Legends of Emergency Medicine: This is the fifth episode in the summer series of SGEM Xtras called Legends of Emergency Medicine (#LegendofEM). These episodes highlight some of the pioneers and leaders of our specialty. I hope these episodes will give the next generation of emergency physicians access to some super stars in our field via social media.

Dr. Tintinalli and Ethan Milne

The format of the show will be similar. We will start by finding out some a non-medical thing about the legend: What song they picked as their music for the episode and why? Then we will tell the back story of how we first met. The more formal part of the episode asks the legend five questions. Listen to the podcast on iTunes to hear their responses.

Five Questions for Judy:

What is the biggest positive change you have seen in emergency medicine over your career?

What is the biggest negative change you have seen in emergency medicine over your career?

What contribution to emergency medicine that you made are you most proud of so far?

What advice would you give to someone who is interested going into emergency medicine?

How do you picture emergency medicine looking in the next ten years?

Theme Music: Each legend was asked to pick theme music for their episode and explain why they picked that particular song. Judy picked Dancing in the Streets by Martha and the Vandellas. Being a fan of the 1980’s I was more familiar with the Mick Jagger/David Bowie version of Dancing in the Streets.

I hope you enjoy this summer SGEM Xtra series of podcasts. Don’t Panic – The SGEM will be back in the fall for Season#6. You can expect more critical appraisals of recent publications trying to cut the knowledge translation window down from over ten years to less than one year using the power of social media. The ultimate goal of the SGEM is for patients to get the best care based on the best evidence.

Remember to be skeptical of anything you learn, even if you heard it on the Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency medicine.